It is simply not possible in the current environment for an advertiser or marketer to anticipate all of the potential scenarios that might garner the attention of a regulator. Today’s advertising landscape is pro-consumer and pro-enforcement. Federal and state regulatory enforcement actions alleging unfair or deceptive trade practices are escalating at an unprecedented level and […]

Over the past several years, there have been laws enacted to address perceived abuses in the area of executive compensation. In addition, rating agencies are beginning to cast a negative eye on corporate balance sheets with unfunded benefit liabilities. In light of these regulations, this article focuses on the ânew realityâ of funding nonqualified plans. […]

Much has been written about the “perfect storm” of corporate accounting scandals, pension crises and subsequent legislative backlash, which resulted in a decline in the funded status of defined benefit plans as well as an increase in the expense recognition and contribution requirements for those plans. Hindsight now reveals that these problems might have been […]

Can a company be innovative even though it has been offering basically the same product for more than 100 years? Of course it can, and Euler Hermes ACI proves it. Euler Hermes ACI â which began as American Credit Indemnity (ACI) â has insured and managed trade receivables in the United States since 1893, which […]

Financial executives must continuously balance the cost of doing business with the risk of doing business. Each time a dollar of revenue is produced, all costs incurred by generating that dollar are thoroughly analyzed in an effort to maximize the profit margin. The hundreds of billions of dollars in losses associated with bad debt charge-offs […]

Standard & Poorâs Ratings Services uses the enterprise risk management (ERM) evaluation process to distinguish between those financial services firms that are able to moderate incidences of unexpected losses and thus improve the level of risk-adjusted returns, and those that do not have this capability. When resolving the credit implications of a major acquisition or […]

This primer should serve as a basic introduction to financial risks and summarize a framework necessary for managing them. It is not, however, a guide to hedging, but should provide a basic understanding of why organizations hedge. At the end of this overview, the reader should have a better understanding of what we mean by […]

Aided by advances in technology, which have helped us achieve more accurate results in less time, executives have built a body of work that has come to be collectively known as business performance management (BPM). During the early days of this discipline, my peers and I developed tools and techniques to better operate and manage […]